I shoved him as he chuckled. “Let me plan something for your siblings. I would like to meet them, too. We’re going to be married, so we should start getting acquainted.”

“Your father and Priscilla are missing, Wonder… you can dip out of this anytime that you want to… ‘cause I can promise I’m not going to hold up my end of the bargain.”

My heart rate increased as I stared down at my hand. “Why would he do that?”

“Niggas create their own storms and then get mad when it rains… this ain’t on you, baby.” He looked over at me. “You can go if that’s what you want to do, Wonder… no hard feelings.”

He got up from the bed and stretched. “You want to get rid of me?”

I watched as my words sat with him. “Never want to get rid of you… I also don’t want to hold you here. I’m too real of a nigga to make you go through with this when I have all plans on handling your father and that bitch. He shot one of my men, and I can’t look the other way.”

“You’re not holding me, Maverick.”

He walked around the bed and sat where he was closer to me. “What you trying to tell me, Stevie?”

I scooted closer to him. “You need a wife and an heir, and I want to be the one to do both of those things. I like you, Maverick… you are strange, and I am, too.”

Maverick smirked as he looked over at me. I noticed he wasn’t rubbing his hands, and I climbed into his arms. “So, you want to marry me? I come with a lot of shit, Stevie.”

I touched his face. “I do, too.”

“Not more than me.”

“Are we really about to compete on who comes with more baggage?”

I kissed his lips. “Our paths were supposed to cross for a reason. You’re used to doing what is controlled, and I am used doing what is chaotic… I wanna be controlled chaos with you, Mitchell.”

“I don’t know about the chaos, but you the only chaos that I want… real talk, Wanda.” We hugged, as his phone rang, and I climbed back onto the bed.

As he stomped up the steps, I got comfortable back in the bed and quickly fell back to sleep, thinking about the mess my father got himself into.

Why would they risk their lives when I had done everything to save it? My life was already saved the minute Jeffie walked into the warehouse. It was their lives that were on the chopping block.

Certain things were out of my control, and I couldn’t tell him how to run his business. Raye and Priscilla had stolen from him, and he had looked the other way because of me.

I couldn’t ask him to spare them again, especially when his own men were being hurt in the process.

Menace

“When the fuckyou started driving again?” Corleon asked, as I bent the corners with security flying behind me.

I looked over at him. “Come around more and you would know.”

“Fuck up. I been trying to get shit right in my life… for real, when the fuck this happened?” He looked in the rearview mirror.

“Took Wonder out on a date and decided to drive,” I explained, as I focused on getting to where I needed to be.

“Nigga, you calling her Wonder?” He broke out into laughter, his gun rested on his lap as I bent another corner.

I just knew Duke was back there cursing me out because I was gunning it on them. After that call, and the moment I shared with my baby, I needed to handle business. “Core, that’s mine… I ain’t losing her.”

“Is she being held against her will, Menace?”

“Nah. I told her about her father and that bitch, and she looked hurt that I was giving her an out… said she wanna marry me and give me a seed.”

“Can’t believe Ghost and Rahmeek got you out here about to commit to somebody. Shit, I can’t believe you ‘bout to be family to Geeky before me.”

I looked at him. “You clowning me calling her Wonder, and you run around calling that girl Geeky… how shit with the two of you? I spoke to her the other day, but didn’t give a fuck then.”